In the summer of 1998, floods were raging across the country, and the Yangtze River Basin was in emergency. Although Xuzhou City, located in northern Jiangsu, has no sea or large rivers, the heavy rains in recent days have filled the moat and every low-lying land in the city.

, all the drainage facilities have become decorations. When I was 7 years old, I watched the small ditch in front of my door swell and fill up until it was flush with the ground, and then in turn poured out the accumulated water, gradually destroying our village.

It turned into a vast ocean.

My family lives at the foot of Jiuli Mountain, and the bungalow was so submerged that only the roof could be seen. My father took me to the rooftop of a neighbor's two-story building and squatted there for several days and nights before the weather gradually cleared up.

After two or three days of water dissipation, our family no longer had food, and even the wooden beds they slept on were gone! People in the village rowed boats and took their belongings to go to relatives in the city. My husband and I

But Dad had no acquaintances after leaving the village, and had only a dilapidated and empty tile-roofed house to rely on.

The village was almost empty, and my father was afraid that I would run around, so he locked the door and went out to catch fish. I was so naughty at that time that I couldn't rest for a while, so I sneakily jumped out of the window and followed the muddy mountain road, carrying

Carrying a bamboo basket to pick lichens all over the mountains and plains.

The weather was very sultry, and I was tired and thirsty from walking. I wanted to find a small, shady cave to escape the heat. Suddenly, I found that a few steps further inside, I saw a mountain spring that was bubbling water!

I ran over in two quick steps, wanting to drink some spring water to quench my thirst. But as soon as I got there, I felt uncomfortable all over. There was something shiny on my forehead. When I looked up, I immediately felt dizzy, and my whole body seemed to be electrocuted.

Got goosebumps:

Right above my head, on the top wall of the small cave, there was actually a strange thing flying up and down, undulating and swimming!

I choked and coughed, quickly rubbed my eyes and looked over——

That's not an illusion. It has a long body, beards and scales. It is twisting its cirrus-shaped tail, showing its teeth and claws. It is surrounding me in circles on the top of the cave, and its whole body is emitting a shimmering light.

Dazzling sparkling water.

That's...that's a dragon?!

When I was young, I stood there as if petrified, not even daring to take a breath, for fear of making some noise and angering the big dragon, but it was more like teasing me, and there were no unnecessary movements, as if to make some noise.

As if it was destroying my will, he just stared at me while swimming, and the shining light stung my eyes.

The tears I burst out blurred its outline, and as time passed by, it still didn't rush over. Nothing happened in the cave quietly, but I was too tired to stand any longer, and my feet became weak.

Fell to the ground.

I thought it was over, now the big dragon would definitely notice me! I gritted my teeth and felt ready to die. After wiping away my tears, I suddenly saw clearly that the dragon was not living with flesh and blood, it was tight.

The cracks and bulges against the stone wall have always appeared to be circling and swimming on a flat surface, just like some mischievous child using the sun reflected by the mirror!

But the village is empty and there is no one on this mountain. How could this dragon shadow appear here in such a way for me to see it like this?

I gradually came to my senses, and the fear in my heart was far greater than the curiosity. I shouted in self-encouragement, dropped the bamboo basket and ran away!

I crawled, stumbled, and howled all the way back home, and finally climbed into the room through the window. I was afraid that my father would scold me for sneaking out, so I simply didn’t tell anyone about it, and just held it in and waited.

A chance to go up the mountain with him.

However, when the opportunity came, the thrilling flood had long since dissipated, and the village had returned to its former tranquility. Not only was the dragon gone, but even the spring had dried up. It was as if everything had never happened, it was just a dream of mine.

.

Ten years have passed, and I have moved away from my hometown, but I am still an ordinary little girl. Now I am working part-time as a librarian to pay for the food next semester.

The secret of that dragon has always been hidden in my heart. I have never recorded or mentioned it until today when a stranger revealed it.

As the sun set, it was dinner and closing time, and the few readers went home one after another. Only me and a strange-looking man were left in the huge reading room.

The cicadas chirped outside the window one after another, and the fan on 4th gear buzzed.

In such a sultry dog ​​day, he put on a red and black jacket and huddled next to the wastepaper basket in the corner. He didn't care about the piles of debris on the table.

He buried his head and slept soundly without saying a word.

There was a very large and exaggerated mountaineering bag on the seat next to him. It was bulging and full of stuff. He had a section of his forearm exposed from his rolled-up sleeves, and the front and back were densely written with ballpoint pens.

handwriting, and there is also a book of "The Chronicles of Xiang Yu" with yellowed paper pressed under his hand.

I cleared away the clutter on the table, shook him awake, and asked, "Aren't you going home for dinner? Do you have to catch up on your thesis?"

"No, I'm waiting for you to get off work."

He rubbed his eyes, stretched, and fiddled with his hair, covering the left half of his face.

"Me?" I pointed to myself in surprise, "I don't know you! Are you mistaken?"

He smiled mysteriously, stretched his head towards me and said, "I want you to lead the way to dig for the Overlord's treasure!"

I was stunned for a few minutes, and then I decisively picked up the broom and drove him out. There was another treasure hunter!

I have seen many people like this. There are folk rumors that after the Qin Kingdom was destroyed, Xiang Yu robbed Qin Shihuang's tomb. After he came back, he built his capital in Xuzhou and buried all the valuable treasures in a secret room underground.

In our Xuzhou city, this is a secret known to all women and children. Treasure hunters from all over the city often flock to the city to ask innocent people like us about folk history.

Over the years, some so-called explorers and archaeologists have come, trying to find out the location of the treasure, but they have found nothing. Instead, they have attracted batches of cleverly disguised tomb thieves, stealing ancient tombs from various dynasties underground in Xuzhou.

All gone!

"Stop thinking about it. You can't find something that even professors and experts can't find. Why are you joining in the fun? It's just a legend!" I have no good impression of this kind of person, so I pushed him to the door and said, "Go out and look for it."

Just ask a passerby, don't bother me if I have to go to work!"

"Stop it, I've found you."

He half-stepped out of the door, then turned back with a smile that made me go crazy.

The shadow of the doorframe covered the upper half of his face, and I heard him say in a low voice: "In the summer of 1998, have you seen a chi dragon?"

My whole body trembled violently, and the broom in my hand almost dropped to the ground. His words were like a needle, directly piercing the exclusive secret in my heart.

The weirdo saw my reaction and didn't explain much. He just left a sentence: "We will leave tomorrow morning and wait here, otherwise I will go to your house to catch you." Then he picked up his backpack and walked out of the door.

I stayed there for a long time. It felt like there was a camera hidden behind you and your every move was being monitored by others.

I quickly turned off the lights, locked the door, and chased outside, wanting to find out more about this matter.

When I got down the stairs, I turned around and saw that weirdo squatting across the street, eating a piece of cake with a blank expression on his face.

The vehicles whizzing by intermittently blocked my sight, and passers-by kept walking past him, but no one stopped for him. He seemed to have no contact with the world, just squatting like that, without any trace of his presence.

Don't care about the eyes around you.

I was suddenly inexplicably afraid of him, and I was a little hesitant to take his words seriously. But before I had time to think about it, the green light came on, and I hurriedly followed the crowd and walked in front of him.

"Hey, are you off work?" he took the initiative to chat.

I came back to my senses and asked directly: "Please speak clearly today and stop being mysterious. Do you know me? How do you know what happened in 1998?"

"Your name is Liu Yi. From 1991 to 2002, you and your father lived in Jiuli Village at the foot of Jiuli Mountain. Now you live alone. You are in your third year of school. You often miss classes and work part-time as an administrator in a public library."

I was so surprised that he said it word for word. This is exactly my resume!

This was not over yet. He continued with a piece of flour cake in his mouth: "During the flood in 1998, most of the people in your village went to the city to take refuge. Only three or four families took refuge in the two newly built small western-style buildings. It is possible that the water level

The only people who saw Chilong before descending were only a dozen of you."

"Are you... a plainclothes patrol officer?" I was sweating slightly. There is nothing more terrifying than facing someone who has seen through your past!

"It's really hard to find you. You moved and changed schools. When I found your school, it was actually on summer vacation! But fortunately, the possibility of a dozen other people has been ruled out." There was a slight smile on the corner of the weirdo's mouth, "

The last flood was a hundred years ago, and even if anyone had seen it, they would have died of old age. You are the last bet of this era, and you really succeeded."

"You investigated us door to door? Why?"

"Didn't I tell you that I want you to lead the way to dig out the Overlord's treasure?"

"What does that have to do with dragons, and what does it have to do with me?"

"That dragon is the entrance to the treasure, and you are the only witness left in the world."

I was stuck on the sidewalk like a wooden stake, not knowing who I met or what I was about to face.

The weirdo waited for a while, as if he was familiar with me, took my arm, shook my hand and said: "The others will arrive early this morning. Whether you are willing or not, you have to lead the way to Jiuli Mountain early tomorrow morning.

Go home and rest quickly!”

Regardless of whether I was listening or not, he turned around, picked up the plastic bag of pancakes on the ground, and rushed across the road in the last five seconds of the green light.
Chapter completed!